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A SOPHISTICATED EFFORT
In the storefronts along Boyd Street, a narrow commercial street in Los Angeles that has become a de facto bazaar for cannabis, displays of fake packaging and ready-to-fill vape cartridges are on sale for sale. popular brands such as Heavy Hitters and Kingpen.
In one store, the massive Hitter packs sold for $ 225 for every 100 empty cartridges and cartridges; Kingpen sets are selling for $ 200. With just a few mouse clicks, Alibaba, China's largest online commerce company, and other websites also make it easy to find counterfeit packaging and vape cartridges. Once purchased, a counterfeiter would add cannabis oil widely available on the illicit market. A recent online ad sold oil at $ 6 per gram when purchased per liter.
It is not clear who is behind all the different sales, and Californian law enforcement has been overwhelmed by the vast illegal market. In Los Angeles, the main goal of the police department is to close about 200 illegal clinics across the city, without seeking the source of false papers that could be sold in the interior, the spokesman said. Los Angeles Police Department, Josh Rubenstein.
Until now, the state's illegal market was operating largely uncontrollably, providing a ready-to-use market for counterfeits.
A recent study estimated that consumers spend about $ 3 in the underground economy of the potted state for every dollar spent in legal value. Last week, regulators raided two unauthorized stores selling fake marijuana in southern California, seizing nearly $ 3 million worth of products. In Wisconsin, the authorities discovered a company of ten people who manufactured thousands of counterfeit vape cartridges for nearly two years, loaded with oil containing THC, the high-potency ingredient of marijuana.
A probable link between the copy cassettes and the stores that sold them was illustrated on August 28th. An illegal store locked by the police in Los Angeles had a showcase showing the Kingpen cassettes in plain view. The company said it had no connection to the store, which sold vapes at a good price, which means it was almost certainly fake.
Kingpen has taken matters into its own hands by suing Chinese companies that produce counterfeit packaging, sending a multitude of letters of cessation and forbearance to companies selling them and filing complaints with the state. , so that nothing changes.
"There is no feedback. There is no action," said Danny Corral, vice president of sales for Kingpen Loudpack.
Others went so far as to hire private investigators to locate illicit but no-win suppliers. This has led many industry players to think that counterfeiting is an organized and sophisticated practice.
"We have every reason to believe that the same criminal gangs and cartels that dominate the global pharmaceutical trade in counterfeit medicines will fight the counterfeit cannabis trade in California in the same way," says a report by Mammoth Distribution. and submitted to the supervisory authorities. The company distributes heavy hitters.
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Take things in your own hands
With the counterfeiting of counterfeit products on the California market of illegal vaping, the threat to licensed companies is not limited to millions of dollars. They fear that their beloved brands will be altered forever if people get a nauseating puff of steam or even get sick of a fake product bearing their name.
To combat widespread counterfeiting, Kingpen's parent company is preparing to set aside millions of dollars worth of packaging and computer equipment and spend millions more to launch a redesigned product.
Loudpack is partnering with a technology company and plans this month to launch an anti-counterfeit program that will allow customers to verify the authenticity of Kingpen products purchased from state-approved clinics.
The rectangular paper box will be gone, replaced by a square metal container. The logo of the company remained, depicting a bearded king with bloodshot eyes, but his face is partially masked, as he scanned a corner of the street. There is also a unique code that allows consumers to validate the product.
In a statement, the company said it hoped the transformation would give consumers "the peace of mind to know that any legally purchased Kingpen product is actually genuine."
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Blood is a member of the AP Marijuana Beat Team. Follow the full coverage of AP marijuana: https://apnews.com/Marijuana
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